After reading the Coleman (1988) article, I was surprised by his statistics of high school drop out rates. The article stated that the raw drop out rate for "Other Private Schools" was 11.9% (p. S115). I went to a independent college prep school, which I am sure falls into this category since it is neither a public nor a Catholic school. I'm not sure about other types of schools that fall into this category, but 11.9% seems awfully high for my school and others of the kind. As I remember, no one from my school "dropped out" in the sense that they decided not to finish high school, in the six years I was at the school (7th through 12th grade). Those that left went to another school to finish. I wonder if the 11.9% also reflects students that leave high school to attend another. In this case, the statistic might make more sense, though would not accurately capture the idea of "dropping out". I called the Associate Head of School for my high school (who also happens to be my father, but that's beside the point), and he confirmed what I had been thinking. In his estimation, 5 to 10 students are expelled for various reasons, but every one of them will attend another school come January or September. Similarly, my high school takes a couple of students each January or September that were expelled from another private school. Also, at the end of 8th grade, some number of students choose not to attend the high school and opt to go to a different school, though this would not figure into the high school drop out rates. And perhaps 1 or 2 students will voluntarily leave the school because they have been accepted to another one, like a transfer. Overall 6 to 12 students leave each year out of a student population of about 450. Even though none are dropping out, as it were, depending out how Coleman calculated the statistic this could contribute to the drop out rate.

I think that this low drop out rate could be attributed to the densely connected network of faculty and administration. The teachers, obviously, teach during the day, then they coach in the afternoon, and eat dinner in the same dining hall with the students. At the end of the day, teachers go back to the dorms where they live in the same buildings as the students (as "dorm parents") and take turns being on duty, checking in with the students, some even have the students over to their apartments in the dorms and bake for them. The administrators, too, usually teach one course a year and coach one sport. Both teachers and administrators are advisers with a group of 5 to 10 students each. This allows for the faculty and administrators to have close connections with the students. My father described it as specialized parenting. When a student needs help with homework, or needs advice, or wants to go to the mall, all these activities are organized and specialized by person, whereas outside of the school, a teenager might go to their same parents for all of these needs. In addition, because the teachers all live on the same campus, are each others' neighbors, work together in the departments, coach together and eat together, as well as attend meetings together, the people that work at the school are a densely knit group with many redundant ties. For example, a Latin teacher might coach football with a history teacher in the fall and coach track with a math teacher in the spring, and have a biology teacher living upstairs. Perhaps this dense interconnectedness contributes to the virtually 0% drop out rate and the virtually 100% college acceptance rate.

I wonder what other types of schools fall into the "Other Private Schools" category to reach the 11.9% drop out rate.